london

• William Blake was born in London and often wrote about rebelling against the misuse of power and class
• Blake uses a quatrain, using organized structure to illustrate the continuous, unbroken suffering, showing it is repeated and never ending
• 'i wander' this shows that there is no set order and no sense of direction, and purposeless suggesting he is powerless
• 'each chartered street' this shows that it is owned but this juxtaposes to the fact he was wandering
• 'chartered Thames does flow' the use of 'flow' juxtaposes how is is 'chartered' because it shows a sense of freedom.
• Every stanza uses an ABAB rhyme scheme to show how suffering is repetitive
• 'mark in every face i meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe.' The repetition of 'marks' shows that their suffering is permanently there. It also suggests that they cannot remove the impact o the suffering they have experienced
• 'in every cry of every man' shows the nature of the city being miserable, even a 'man' crying highlights the suffering that is felt, during those times it was not traditionally a quality for men.
• 'in every infant's cry of fear' the repetition of 'cry' highlights a shared suffering no matter the age, showing that the entire city of London is suffering and miserable
• 'the mind-forged manacles' this shows that they all feel like prisoners, that they are trapped and physically being held down.
• 'mind-forged manacles' - this metaphor represents the mental chains that are put on people by society, which they cannot escape from.
• 'in every cry of every man' this suggests everyone suffers equally regardless of their social status. the use of anaphora shows how everyone was suffering
• 'how the chimney-sweeper's cry' this shows that everyone is suffering regardless of class, even children are crying
• 'every black'ning church appalls' the adjective 'black'ning' shows grim imagery and the effects of the suffering is even making the church fall into issues. It highlights that the suffering how power over everything
• 'runs in blood down palace walls' this imagery shows a class divide and also shows that their is a sense of guilt felt by royalty
• 'blasts the new-born infant's tear' the repetition of 'tear' and 'cry' shows that there is suffering all around. There is a semantic field of tears. The innocence of babies is immediately lost
• 'blights with plagues the marriage hearse.' this shows that the suffering is uncontrollable and is spreading like a disease, easily transmitte and never ending suffering. The oxymoron 'marriage hearse' shows that society is damaged and that marriage can be broken up
• this poems shows the themes of power and suffering, rich and poor, class divisions and anger
• Each quatrain shows a different sense showing how suffering is all around
• Poems to compare

  Ozymandias- shows how power has control over many things and people

  My last duchess- shows the control of people

  Chrage of the Light Brigade- shows the authority power has

  Kamikaze- shows a loss of individuality

  Checking out me history- both show the oppression faced
• the cyclical structure illustrates that the suffering is never ending
• oppression comes from the place, people and institutions. There is a theme of class oppression.